Polarization dynamic patterns of vector solitons in a graphene mode-locked fiber laser

Multiple polarization dynamic patterns of vector solitons, including fundamental solitons, bunched solitons, loosely or tightly bound states and harmonic mode locking have been observed experimentally in an erbium-doped fiber ring laser with graphene as a saturable absorber. By carefully adjusting the pump power and the orientation of the intra-cavity polarization controller, either polarization rotation or polarization locked operation have all been achieved for the above vector solitons. This is the first time that high order harmonic mode locking of polarization rotation vector solitons has been achieved. The signal to noise ratio of our system was ~51 dB, which indicates that the laser operated with high stability.